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Cross-Registration Policies & Procedures

Limitations

The following limitations govern courses taken for credit by cross-registration:

Total Term Load
They may not represent more than one half of the student's total program in any one term, and MDesS students cannot exceed the equivalent of a total of 16 units via cross-registration without the permission of his/her advisor during their degree program.

Availability of Subject
They should normally be subjects not available at the GSD. If there is apparent duplication of the subject in the two schools, there must be a valid reason for enrolling outside the GSD.

Relevance to GSD Degree Program
They must not constitute, in their ensemble, a program that is separate from, or in addition to, the program for which the student is formally registered in the GSD.

Harvard College and Harvard Summer School Courses

Students may take a maximum of two undergraduate level courses, at either Harvard College or Harvard Summer School (or a combination of the two), to be applied toward their GSD degree. Students will not receive credit toward the fulfillment of degree requirements for more than two courses taken at the undergraduate level (however, no more than two courses taken at the Summer School, at any level, can be applied toward their degree). It is the responsibility of each student interested in taking cross-registered courses to contact his or her Program Department to learn about specific cross-registration restrictions.

Cross-Registration Petition

A student wishing to cross-register for any Harvard course should simply add the course to their Crimson Cart and add the course via my.Harvard. Step-by-step instructions for this process are found here. For MIT courses, fill out a petition at the Harvard University Cross-Registration website. Students failing to file cross-registration petitions will not be considered enrolled elsewhere and will not receive credit in the GSD. Students must abide by the regulations of the school into which they are cross-registered and will be assigned grades under the system of that school; however, the GSD will not accept cross-registered courses taken pass/fail or SAT/UNSAT.

Deadlines

Changes in enrollment in cross-registered courses must occur by the add/drop deadline of the Graduate School of Design or of the other school, whichever date is earlier. A student must file an add/drop petition as required for GSD courses (described above).

The cross-registration deadline for Fall 2018 for non-GSD students cross-registering in to GSD courses is September 21. MIT and Fletcher students who wish to cross-register in to GSD courses must do so here.

Grades

If a GSD student receives a grade considered passing at the school at which the course is listed, he or she may receive credit for cross-registered courses offered by Harvard College; Harvard's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Business School, Kennedy School of Government, Graduate School of Education, School of Public Health, Law School, or Divinity School; the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University; the Episcopal Divinity School; and MIT. Students may obtain credit toward the fulfillment of a degree at the GSD for a maximum of two undergraduate-level courses, or the equivalent of eight GSD units, at Harvard College or Harvard Summer School. MDesS Students may obtain a maximum of three undergraduate-level courses or twelve GSD units at the College.

When cross-registering, students must abide by the dates and policies of the school in which the course is offered, unless the GSD deadlines are earlier (petitions are always due by the earlier deadline). Information on individual school cross-registration dates and policies can be found on the Student Cross-Registration portal or on the individual school websites listed below.

GSD students who wish to audit a course should make arrangements directly with the instructor. Audited courses are not recorded on transcripts. Students from outside of the GSD who wish to audit a GSD course should speak with the registrar in order to acquire a petition to audit.

Students who cross-register into the GSD will be graded according to the GSD grading system; letter grades will not be awarded.

GSD students cannot cross-register into another course on a pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis, even if the host school allows it. The only exception to this policy is when the course is ONLY offered on a pass/fail or satisfactory/unsatisfactory basis. Otherwise, cross-registered courses must be graded according to the host school's standard, ordinal system.

Grading Systems

School

Satisfactory

Unsatisfactory

Fail

Graduate School of Design

DIS, HP, P

LP

F

Business School

E, SA -I, II

LP/ -III

UNS – IV

Divinity School

A, A-, B+, B, B-

C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-

E

Faculty of Arts & Sciences

A, A-, B+, B, B-/SAT

C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-

E/UNS

Kennedy School

A, A-, B+, B, B-/SAT

C+, C, C-, D+, D, D-

E/UNS

Law School

H, P

LP

F

Medical School

EXL, SAT, P

U

School of Education

A, B

C, D

E

School of Public Health

A, A-, B+, B, B-, /P

C+, C, C-

F

MIT

A, B, C

D

F

Fletcher (Tufts)

A, A-, B+, B, B-, SAT

C and below

Cross-Registration Credit Chart

Please refer to the university-wide course catalog and cross-registration site for the credit conversions and choose Harvard Graduate School of Design in the drop-down box.

Cross-Registration Policies at Other Schools

Students should familiarize themselves with the policies and procedures outlined by the school into which they will be cross-registering.

Cross-Registration Policies Within Harvard

Cross-Registration Policies Outside Harvard

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) (Please be advised that if you are a graduating student, courses taken at MIT in Spring of your graduating year may not count towards your degree requirements because MIT is not on the same academic calendar as the GSD)